LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 


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INAUGURATION 


OF 


BEYN  MA  WE  COLLEGE 


(mi  I VERS 


fePOB,^ 


18  8  5. 


ADDRESSES 


AT  THE  INAUGURATION  OF 


Bryn  Mawr  College, 


PRESIDENT  RHOADS 

AND 

PRESIDENT  D.  C.  GILMAN, 

Of  The  Johns  Hopkins  University. 


Bryn  Mawr,  1885. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PRINTED   BY  SHERMAN  &  CO., 
Seventh  and  Cherry  Streets. 

18  86. 


0*1 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/addressesatinaugOObrynrich 


JNIVERSIT 

ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  RHOADS. 

To-day  we  rejoice  in  a  culmination  and  a  beginning. 
The  long  course  of  providential  events  which  led  to  the 
founding  of  Bryn  Mawr  College  and  the  patient  work 
of  preparation  for  it  have  closed,  and  the  actual  life  of  the 
College  has  begun.  It  is  most  fit,  then,  while  acknowl- 
edging that  every  good  gift  is  from  above,  that  we  should 
give  just  honor  to  Dr.  Taylor,  whose  liberal  mind  and 
generous  heart  led  him  to  design  this  Institution  for  the 
higher  education  of  women,  and  to  devote  almost  his  en- 
tire estate  to  its  establishment. 

As  the  son  of  a  physician  who  was  a  graduate  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  and  who  studied  medicine  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  Dr.  Taylor  must  have  re- 
ceived from  his  father  a  bias  in  favor  of  collegiate 
education  and  a  regard  for  intellectual  pursuits.  The 
descendant  of  a  prosperous  London  merchant,  who,  in 
early  colonial  days,  made  large  purchases  of  land  in 
northern  New  Jersey,  he  had  that  aptitude  for  commer- 
cial transactions  which  wins  success  by  honorable  methods ; 
and  it  is  a  cause  of  profound  satisfaction  that  the  estate 
which  he  devoted  to  so  pure  and  high  a  purpose  was 
gained  by  worthy  means,  and  was  unstained  by  injustice 
or  wrong.  The  great  West  of  fifty  years  ago,  with  its 
fresh  resources,  was  the  field  for  Dr.  Taylor's  business 
energy  ;  and  his  example  is  one  among  very  many  which 
give  evidence  that  our  countrymen,  while  eagerly  taking 
advantage  of  the  riches  which  a  new  continent  has  spread 
before  us,  and  stimulated  by  its  ungarnered  stores  to  de- 
vote themselves  to  material  things,  have  not  "  blinded 
their  souls  with  clay,"  nor  lost  sight  of  the  nobler  wants 


of  our  nature.     On  the  contrary,  there  has  been,  during 
the  past  generation,  a  noble  rivalry  in  the  munificence  of 
the  gifts  made  by  men  and  women  of  wealth  to  foster 
education.     In  1882,  the  private  gifts  for   education  of 
all  grades  in  the  United  States  exceeded  $7,000,000,  while 
those  for  colleges  and  universities  alone  were  more  than 
$3,500,000.     Within  the  bounds  of  our  own  State  there 
have  occurred  of  recent  time  the  founding  of  the  Towne 
School  of  Science  in  the  University,  with  large  additions 
to  its  buildings  and  endowment ;  the  creation  of  Lehigh 
University    by    Judge    Packer;    the    strengthening    of 
Lafayette  College  by  Ario  Pardee;  the  contribution   of 
$250,000  to  rebuild  Swarthmore ;  and  the  recent  legacy 
to  Haverford  by  Jacob  P.  Jones.     But  the  most  striking 
feature  in  this  dedication  of  wealth  to  the  promotion  of 
learning    has    been    the   establishment   of    colleges   for 
women.     Prominent  among  benefactors  to  this  cause  are 
the  honored  names  of  Vassar,  Durant,  and  Maria  Smith, 
who  have  indeed  done  well,  but  have  not  surpassed  Dr. 
Taylor  in  generous  intent  and  deed.     From  his  Puritan 
and  Quaker   ancestry  Dr.  Taylor  received  a  conviction 
of  the  supreme  claims  of  duty,  so  that  although  he  re- 
served his  means  chiefly  for  a  final  purpose  he  habitually 
used  them  in  wise  charities,  and  generously  responded  to 
the  claims  of  friendship  and  hospitality.    Extended  travel 
at  home  and  abroad  had  increased  his  appreciation  of  a 
varied  culture,  and  had  prepared  his  mind  for  that  dispo- 
sition of  his  property  which  he  ultimately  made ;  and  his 
connection    with   Haverford  College   for   more    than   a 
quarter  of  a  century,  as  one  of  its  Board  of  Managers, 
led  him  to  desire  (as  he  himself  expressed  it),  to  extend 
"to  women  the  opportunities  for  a  college  education  which 
are  so  freely  offered  to  young  men." 

Once  resolved,  Dr.  Taylor  began  to  form  plans  for  his 
institution.     He  consulted  with  men  and  women  foremost 


for  their  knowledge  of  the  whole  subject  of  education,  as 
well  as  of  the  special  needs  of  women  and  of  the  wants 
of  our  time.  He  visited  the  three  leading  colleges  for 
women  in  the  north,  to  which  Bryn  Mawr  is  so  largely 
indebted,  and  having  decided  upon  the  outlines  of  his 
design  he  began  the  erection  of  the  buildings  which  now 
surround  us.  He  determined  to  have  one  central  building 
for  academic  purposes,  and  to  place  near  it  dormitories 
for  the  accommodation  of  students,  together  with  labora- 
tories and  rooms  for  a  gymnasium.  By  his  death  in  1880, 
the  completion  of  these  edifices  and  the  organization  of  the 
College  devolved  upon  the  Trustees  whom  he  had  chosen. 
The  extent  and  importance  of  his  undertaking  had  grown 
upon  Dr.  Taylor  as  he  became  more  familiar  with  all  that 
was  involved  in  his  attempt  to  offer  to  women  the  advan- 
tages of  higher  learning,  and  the  Trustees  have  felt 
assured  that  they  were  acting  in  accordance  with  his 
intentions  by  husbanding  the  estate  placed  in  their  hands, 
and  by  conserving  its  funds,  as  far  as  practicable,  for  the 
future  needs  of  the  college.  This  they  have  done  with  so 
much  care  that  the  invested  property  of  the  College  now 
nearly  equals  the  sum  .originally  devised.  In  judging, 
however,  of  what  may  be  expected  of  Bryn  Mawr,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  notwithstanding  the  munifi- 
cence of  its  endowment,  its  income  is  scarcely  one-third 
of  the  sum  expended  annually  by  some  leading  colleges 
for  the  maintenance  of  their  academical  departments,  and 
that  out  of  this  income  there  ought  to  be  supplied  in  the 
immediate  future,  additional  dormitories,  laboratories, 
illustrative  collections,  with  halls  for  their  accommoda- 
tion, an  art  building,  a  library  building  and  books,  not  to 
mention  the  necessary  increase  of  its  departments  and  the 
consequent  increase  of  expenses  for  instruction.  With  its 
revenue  so  severely  taxed,  Bryn  Mawr  must  still  look  to 
men  and  women,  of  one  mind  with  its  founder,  who  share 


the  conviction  expressed  by  Dr.  William  H.  Draper,"  That 
there  are  many  women  who,  without  the  aid  of  systematic 
training,  are  unable  to  develop  their  natural  capacity  for 
literature,  science,  and  art,  to  some  of  whom  the  advan- 
tage of  a  college  education  is  of  vital  importance,  and  who 
cannot  rest  satisfied  with  any  instruction  short  of  the  best." 
In  this  connection  it  should  be  clearly  understood  that 
although  by  the  terms  of  Dr.  Taylor's  will,  the  Trustees 
are  to  be  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  three 
competitive  scholarships  are  awarded  annually  to  appli- 
cants for  admission  who  are  members  of  this  Society, 
the  devise  of  Dr.  Taylor  was,  to  quote  his  own  language, 
"  for  a  college  or  institution  of  learning  having  for  its  object 
the  advanced  education  of  women  etc."  Bryn  Mawr  Col- 
lege is  thus  devised  to  the  community  at  large,  which  has 
an  interest  in  its  advantages,  and  a  right  to  its  benefits. 

The  Work  to  be  Done. 

All  discussion  of  the  question  whether  women  ought 
to  share  equally  with  men  facilities  for  mental  culture 
in  its  highest  forms  is  obsolete.  The  universities  of  Italy 
have  admitted  women  for  centuries,  and  their  annals  are 
adorned  with  the  names  of  women  illustrious  for  their 
learning  and  virtue.  In  Switzerland,  Holland,  Denmark, 
Norway,  and  Finland,  in  Belgium  and  in  France,  women 
have  more  or  less  freedom  of  access  to  university  instruc- 
tion. The  'universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  in 
England,  and  Harvard  in  our  own  country,  admit  women 
to  special  courses  of  study,  accord  them  examinations 
similar  to  those  given  to  their  male  students,  and  grant 
them,  not  degrees,  but  certificates  of  proficiency.  But  the 
University  of  London, — and  in  the  United  States,  Cornell 
University,  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  almost  all 
the  universities  and  colleges  of  the  West,  permit  women 


to  share  their  advantages  upon  equal  terms  with  men ;  and 
the  right  of  women  to  the  highest  scholastic  education, 
which  ought  never  to  have  been  questioned,  is,  therefore, 
practically  conceded. 

If  education  be,  as  it  has  been  so  often  defined,  "the 
equable  development  of  all  our  faculties  by  means  of  use 
and  knowledge,"  what  part  should  a  college  take  in  this 
development?  Certainly  it  should  attempt  a  specific  and 
well-defined  part  only.  In  the  late  discussions  upon  this 
topic,  the  most  prominent  points  have  been  the  follow- 
ing: 

1.  The  limits  which  a  college  should  assign  (a)  to  its 
requirements  for  admission,  (b)  to  the  departments  it  will 
create,  (c)  to  its  graduate  instruction. 

2.  The  relative  proportions  which  the  classical  lan- 
guages, the  modern  languages,  and  natural  science  should 
have  in  the  course  of  studv. 

3.  How  to  combine  sufficient  disciplinary  study  and 
acquaintance  with  the  principles  of  recent  knowledge 
with  some  thoroughness  in  one  or  more  divisions  of  it. 

The  Requirements  for  Admission  may  rightly  serve  as  a 
test,  whereby  the  applicant  may  determine  whether  she 
should  enter  college  or  be  content  with  the  training  of  the 
preparatory  school.  They  should  be  so  far  conformed  to 
the  secondary  education  of  the  country  that  capable  stu- 
dents may  be  able  to  secure  the  preliminary  training  they 
exact;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  college  ought  not,  by 
the  laxity  of  its  entrance  examinations,  to  usurp  the  place 
and  functions  of  preparatory  schools,  and  thus  supplant 
instead  of  fostering  them. 

In  an  article  on  "Southern  Colleges  and  Schools,"  in 
the  Atlantic  Monthly  for  October,  1884,  Charles  Foster 
Smith  has  shown  the  effects  upon  both  the  colleges  and 
preparatory  schools  of  low  standards  of  admission  to  the 
former.     The  poverty  of  the  colleges,  consequent  upon  the 

2 


10 

civil  war,  induced  them  to  adopt  what  is  termed  the 
"School  System/'  and  to  admit  students  with  little  prepa- 
ration. The  result  was  disastrous;  the  secondary  schools 
were  almost  destroyed  by  the  competition  of  the  colleges, 
and  the  colleges  failed  to  represent  the  grade  of  education 
for  which  they  were  established.  A  professor  in  one  of 
the  oldest  colleges  in  Virginia  stated  that  "  The  University 
takes  students  whom  we  ought  to  have;  we  take  boys  who 
should  be  in  our  preparatory  school ;  and  it,  again,  takes 
infants  (so  to  say)  who  ought  to  be  taught  at  home." 

For  these  reasons,  and  others  which  might  be  urged,  it 
has  been  deemed  necessary  to  adopt  here  a  standard  for 
admission  that  shall  demand  such  preliminary  drill  in  the 
elements  of  language,  mathematics,  and  science,  as  shall 
fit  the  student  for  the  methods  of  instruction  appropriate 
to  the  college  class-room,  and  leave  her  free  to  enter  upon 
more  advanced  studies. 

Happily,  experience  has  already  proved  that  upon  our 
latitude  and  south  of  it,  there  are  schools  where  girls 
are  taught  so  thoroughly  as  to  be  qualified  to  enter  any 
college. 

Graduate  Courses. — In  offering  instruction  to  graduates, 
we  have  not  forgotten  that  to  attempt  successfully  the  work 
of  a  university  our  endowment  ought  to  be  multiplied  many 
fold.  But  we  submit  that  it  is  not  presumption  for  a  col- 
lege to  extend  to  graduates  advanced  teaching  in  the 
departments  it  provides  for  its  undergraduates.  So  far 
from  detracting  from  the  full  performance  of  its  duty  to 
the  latter,  the  presence  of  graduates  must  tend  to  elevate 
the  intellectual  tone  of  its  students  and  to  impart  to  them 
a  spirit  of  earnestness  ;  and  professors,  familiar  with  the 
latest  acquisitions  of  science,  take  pleasure  in  using  to  the 
full  their  stores  of  information. 

Doctor  Taylor  desired  that  "care  be  taken  to  educate 
young  women  so  as  to  fit  them  to  become  teachers  of  a 


11 

high  order,"  and  we  are  persuaded  that  no  better  method 
for  carrying  out  this  wish  could  have  been  devised  than 
to  establish  fellowships  and  to  provide  graduate  courses. 
Our  own  search  for  instructors  has  made  it  apparent  that, 
not  from  lack  of  ability  but  for  lack  of  those  opportunities 
for  prolonged  study  which  men  who  become  professors  so 
generally  regard  as  a  necessity,  the  number  of  women 
qualified  for  these  positions  is  small.  To  supply  such 
opportunities  to  women,  a  few  fellowships  have  been 
established.  We  can  only  wish  that  our  funds  would 
allow  us  greatly  to  increase  their  number. 

The  Curriculum. 

The  rapid  accessions  to  modern  knowledge  make  a  careful 
selection  of  the  subjects  to  be  placed  in  a  college  curriculum 
more  imperative  than  at  any  previous  time.  It  is  true  (as 
has  been  urged)  that  as  facts  accumulate,  principles  are 
more  easily  discerned ;  and  that  it  is  the  part  of  the  skil- 
ful teacher  to  seize,  compress,  and  impart  these  elements 
so  as  not  to  burden  the  student  with  unnecessary  details. 
Yet  the  circle  of  knowledge  widens  so  rapidly  that  a  choice 
must  be  made. 

The  old,  oft-recurring,  and  of  late,  sharp  discussions  as 
to  the  place  and  value  of  classical  learning  in  a  scheme  of 
collegiate  study,  have  left  a  general  conviction,  well  ex- 
pressed by  President  White,  that  "  the  teaching  of  the 
ancient  literatures,  and  especially  of  Greek,  is  still  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  instrumentalities  in  the  culture  of  the 
human  mind."*  Greek,  moreover,  must  ever  have  a  special 
interest,  because  in  it  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament 
have  been  providentially  enshrined.  While,  therefore,  it 
has  not  been  made  necessary  for  admission,  it  has  been 
made  a  requisite  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.     We 


Some  Important  Questions  in  Higher  Education,  1885,  p.  3. 


12 

thus  keep  faith  with  those  older  colleges  who  have  been 
wont  to  regard  a  knowledge  of  Greek  as  implied  in  that 
degree. 

Europe,  and,  through  it,  America,  have  been  indelibly 
impressed  in  church  and  state  by  Roman  institutions  and 
law.  If  Latin  is  no  longer  the  common  medium  of  inter- 
course among  scholars,  it  is  the  mother  of  three  of  the 
great  languages  of  Europe,  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish, 
and  is  largely  incorporated  in  our  own.  It  enters  into 
scientific  terminology,  and  by  its  construction  affords  a 
model  for  the  study  of  its  derived  languages,  and  should 
retain  a  place  in  any  scheme  of  collegiate  education. 

Modern  Languages. — But  if  the  advocates  of  Greek 
and  Latin  may  justly  plead  that  they  deserve  attention 
because  their  literatures  contain  the  forms  and  seed- 
thoughts  of  so  much  that  is  best  in  our  present  arts  and 
learning,  the  languages  of  Western  Europe  have  at  least  a 
more  direct  claim  upon  us.  Their  value  in  the  discipline 
of  the  mind  and  in  the  study  of  philology  has  been  called 
in  question ;  but  Professor  Newton  quotes  from  Max 
Muller  the  assertion  that  "before  the  tribunal  of  the 
science  of  language  the  difference  between  ancient  and 
modern  languages  vanishes.''  Sustained  by  the  example  of 
some  of  the  best  universities  and  colleges  of  our  country, 
we  have  not  hesitated  to  place  the  modern  languages  upon 
an  equal  footing  with  the  ancient  in  our  scheme  of  studies. 

Among  the  modern  languages,  our  own  English  is  un- 
surpassed for  force  and  strength,  for  copiousness  and  flexi- 
bility, and  in  the  hands  of  such  masters  as  Milton  and 
Shakespeare,  Addison,  Keats,  and  Ruskin,  it  vies  with  the 
classic  tongues.  In  its  literature,  and  in  the  literatures  of 
France  and  Germany,  are  to  be  found  the  best  thoughts 
and  ripest  knowledge  of  all  times. 

When  we  further  consider  that  within  a  century  Eng- 
lish will  probably  be  spoken  by  1,000,000,000  of  people, 


13 

foremost  in  civil  freedom,  in  territorial  possessions,  in  the 
arts  which  adorn  life,  in  intellectual  vigor  and  in  moral 
height,  no  apology  is  needed  for  giving  prominence  here 
to  the  study  of  the  structure,  the  history,  and  the  litera- 
ture of  our  own  tongue. 

As  a  cognate  language,  German  has  been  made  a  re- 
quired study  in  the  course  for  graduation.  Its  disciplinary 
value  approximates  closely  to  that  of  Greek,  and  access  to 
its  literature  has  become  necessary  to  the  full  investigation 
of  any  subject. 

Instruction  in  French  is  so  generally  given  in  schools 
for  girls  that  it  is  believed  we  may  require  of  all  students 
who  offer  it  at  entrance,  a  careful  training  in  its  elements, 
and  some  acquaintance  with  its  classical  authors.  Thus 
the  foundation  may  be  laid  for  an  accurate  and  thorough 
study  of  modern  French  and  of  those  earlier  forms  of  the 
language  which  closely  connect  it  with  English. 

Success  in  the  use  of  French  (together  with  Italian 
and  Spanish)  as  a  part  of  college  training,  must  depend 
largely  upon  the  excellence  of  the  teaching  imparted,  but 
we  shall  -confidently  anticipate  the  best  results  from  the 
instruction  of  so  able  a  scholar  and  teacher  as  we  expect 
in  a  few  days  to  welcome  to  this  country. 

In  dwelling  so  long  upon  language,  it  is  not  forgotten 
that  it  is  but  the  frame-work  and  vehicle  of  thought,  and 
that  a  knowledge  of  things  is  of  yet  higher  moment. 
Mathematics  will  have  its  wonted  place  of  honor  in  the 
course,  to  impart  the  relations  of  number,  form  and  space, 
and  to  illustrate  the  force  of  irresistible  demonstration. 

History. — Perhaps  no  change  in  modern  collegiate  in- 
struction has  been  more  amply  justified  than  the  greater 
importance  given  to  History  and  to  political  and  social 
science.  From  the  beginning  of  the  organization  of  Bryn 
Mawr  it  has  been  a  matter  of  solicitude  that  History  should 
be  so  taught  here  as  to  bring  into  prominence  the  great 


14 

laws  which  underlie  historic  movements  and  events,  and 
to  display  the  moral  lessons  they  afford. 

History  gratifies  and  develops  a  literary  taste,  and  con- 
cerns itself  with  that  subject  of  paramount  interest,  human 
life. 

Citizenship  in  a  republic  implies  the  duty  of  forming 
judgments  upon  those  serious  civil  and  social  problems 
which  daily  confront  us.  The  wise  regulation  of  inter- 
national commerce,  the  adjustment  of  the  intricacies  of 
finance,  the  training  for  citizenship  and  for  safe  assimila- 
tion into  our  nation  of  its  dark  and  red  races,  and  of  the 
millions  of  immigrants  who  reach  our  shores,  the  just  ap- 
portionment of  the  products  of  labor  between  the  employers 
and  workers  for  wages;  legislation  concerning  the  pauper- 
izing liquor  traffic;  the  control  of  great  corporate  privileges 
so  that  they  shall  enure  to  the  common  weal,  are  problems 
for  the  solution  of  which  the  light  of  history  is  essential. 
It  is  intended,  therefore,  to  assign  to  the  department  of 
History,  a  position  befitting  its  intrinsic  importance  and 
to  foster  it  by  all  the  means  at  our  command. 

Science. — Amongthe  many  branches  of  Natural  Science, 
it  has  been  necessary  to  select  those  most  desirable  as  pre- 
sent forms  of  knowledge,  and  most  likely  to  be  fruitful  in 
the  future  lives  of  students.  Of  these,  Chemistry  is  easily 
chief.  Treating  of  the  atomic  and  molecular  relations  of 
matter,  it  is  the  basis  of  the  allied  sciences.  Physics  is 
closely  connected  with  Chemistry:  it  deals  with  the  forces 
which  bind  and  control  all  matter,  so  that  some  knowledge 
of  it  is  necessary  rightly  to  understand  the  phenomena  of 
material  things.  It  has  an  added  merit  as  supplying  illus- 
trations for  the  application  of  the  processes  of  mathematics. 

Chemistry  and  Physics  then  must  be  included  among 
the  sciences  taught  in  the  College  course. 

It  would  seem  natural  to  go  on  from  these  to  Miner- 
alogy, as  treating  of  matter  in  its  crystallized  and  agglo- 


15 

merate  forms ;  to  Geology  which  deals  with  the  still  larger 
masses  which  constitute  the  earth's  structure,  and  to  As- 
tronomy which  contemplates  and  penetrates  into  the  solar 
and  stellar  systems  of  the  universe.  But  limited  means 
and  the  duty  to  do  well  rather  than  to  attempt  much, 
compel  the  postponement  of  these  sciences  for  the  present, 
until  the  resources  of  the  College  will  permit  them  to  be 
made  electives,  with  adequate  time  for  the  prosecution  of 
study  in  them,  and  sufficient  provision  for  teaching  them 
thoroughly.  Hence  passing  by  these  Biology  has  been 
chosen  in  its  twofold  relation  to  plant  and  animal  life. 
Biology  investigates  the  structure  and  functions  of  living 
organisms,  imparts  a  knowledge  of  our  own  bodies,  leads 
to  an  understanding  of  the  laws  of  health  and  of  disease, 
and  touches  upon  almost  all  personal  arid  social  duties.  In 
its  higher  developments,  human  physiology  is  connected 
with  the  science  of  mind,  the  deeper  problems  of  which 
require  for  their  elucidation  all  that  Biology  can  teach  as 
to  the  functions  of  the  sentient  portions  of  the  human 
frame. 

Moreover,  Chemistry,  Physics  and  Biology  form  a  valu- 
able preparation  for  the  study  of  medicine,  and  give  more 
easy  access  to  a  profession  to  which  an  increasing  number 
of  women  are  devoting  themselves  with  success. 

Philosophy. — The  too  exclusive  direction  of  modern  re- 
search to  the  natural  sciences,  to  that  which  can  be  seen, 
handled,  measured  and  weighed,  and  the  great  increase  of 
comfort  and  luxury  arising  from  the  practical  applications 
of  discoveries  in  them,  has  had  a  tendency  to  divert  atten- 
tion from  metaphysics,  and  to  produce  results  which  would 
be  amusing  if  they  were  not  pitiful.  It  has  seemed  impor- 
tant, therefore,  that  Philosophy  should  have  due  recogni- 
tion among  the  studies  of  the  College.  Based  no  less  than 
the  physical  sciences  upon  observed  facts,  and  appealing  to 
consciousness  no  less  confidently  than  they,  Philosophy  is 


16 

necessary  to  that  balanced  culture  which  takes  cognizance 
of  all  parts  of  our  nature  and  fits  us  for  the  highest  living. 
If  it  starts  with  the  elementary  facts  of  sensation  and  per- 
ception common  to  all  animals,  Philosophy  rises  to  the 
consideration  in  man  of  an  order  of  phenomena  which 
transcend  those  in  inferior  beings,  for  to  his  actions  there 
is  added  a  moral  character.  This  moral  element  includes 
reverence  and  implies  religion,  and  it  is  only  in  religion, 
and  especially  in  its  highest  form,  Christianity,  that  the 
motives  and  the  power  of  true  morality  are  to  be  found. 

To  fill  up  then  the  study  of  man  as  a  part  of  nature,  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  trust  imposed  upon  us  by  the 
Founder  of  the  College,  to  care  for  the  most  sacred  in- 
terests of  life,  and  to  engage  the  faculties  in  their  noblest 
use,  instruction  will  be  given  in  Philosophy  and  in  the 
truths  of  the  Bible. 

It  is  impossible  that  students  should  escape,  and  perhaps 
it  is  not  wholly  desirable  that  they  should  escape,  the  per- 
plexing questions  which  pertain  to  the  relations  of  reli- 
gion and  science.  But  with  a  perfect  assurance  that  all 
truth  is  consistent,  that  faith  is  as  essential  to  science  as  to 
religion,  that  the  revelation  which  God  has  made  of  Him- 
self in  the  orderly  system  of  the  universe,  cannot  conflict 
with  the  revelation  He  has  made  of  Himself  in  the  Bible, 
in  the  personality  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  every 
conscience,  we  shall  welcome  truth  from  every  quarter 
and  fear  no  scientific  investigation  if  only  it  be  reverent. 

Goethe  has  said, "  Man  is  not  born  to  solve  the  mystery 
of  existence;  but  he  must  nevertheless  attempt  it,  in  order 
that  he  may  learn  how  to  keep  within  the  limits  of  the 
knowable."  *  If  in  "this  attempt,  crude  guesses  are  some- 
times offered  in  the  name  of  science,  we  shall  wait  until 
the  vapors  of  imagination  have  distilled  and  gather  only 
the  residuum  of  truth.     As  in  the  case  of  almost  all  our 

*  Lewes'  Bibliographical  History  of  Philosophy,  p.  1. 


17 

institutions  of  learning,  Bryn  Mawr  was  founded  in 
motives  of  Christian  benevolence.  Dr.  Taylor  desired 
that  it  should  ever  maintain  and  teach  an  evangelical  and 
primitive  Christianity  as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  the  Trustees  will  endeavor  to  carry  out  this  trust  in 
the  spirit  in  which  it  was  imposed.  While  seeking  to  up- 
hold with  reverent  faithfulness  the  religion  of  Christ  accord- 
ing to  their  own  convictions,  they  will  have  a  sacred  regard 
to  the  training  which  students  may  have  received  at  home 
and  will  respect  their  conscientious  beliefs.  In  addition 
to  attendance  on  such  public  worship  as  they  or  their 
parents  shall  select,  there  will  be  household  worship  in 
the  College,  and  an  annual  course  of  lectures  will  be  given 
on  the  Bible  and  Biblical  study. 

Art. — That  a  system  of  education  should  not  neglect  to 
develop  and  guide  the  sense  of  the  beautiful  is  admitted. 
Much  is  done  for  this  by  the  graces  of  thought  and  expres- 
sion in  poetry  and  prose,  and  by  observation  of  the  exquisite 
beauty  of  natural  forms.  But  how  far  attention  can  usually 
be  given  in  a  college  to  art,  as  expressed  in  form,  color, 
and  sound,  is  debatable.  It  is  scarcely  compatible  with 
the  scheme  of  a  college  to  compete  with  the  schools  of  art 
established  in  our  large  cities,  and  to  endeavor  to  give  a 
technical  education  in  drawing,  painting,  and  sculpture. 
But  inasmuch  as  facility  in  drawing  is  very  useful  in 
scientific  study  and  in  daily  life,  while  it  trains  the  powers 
of  observation  and  the  use  of  the  hand,  it  will  be  taught 
in  its  more  simple  forms.  It  is  intended,  also,  that  lec- 
tures upon  the  history  and  principles  of  art,  properly  illus- 
trated, shall  be  given  to  the  more  advanced  students.  The 
demand  upon  the  time  and  strength  of  students  made  by 
the  teaching  of  music,  and  the  certainty  that  proficiency  in 
the  practice  of  it  can  be  gained  only  at  the  expense  of 
thoroughness  in  studies  of  pressing  importance,  have  suf- 
ficed to  exclude  it  from  our  course. 


18 

Health. — Four  years  of  college  study  is  a  tax  upon  the 
bodily  strength.  It  means  hard  work.  Dark  pictures 
have  been  drawn  by  writers  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic 
of  the  evils  to  the  health  of  women  and  girls  from  over- 
work at  school  and  college.  None  of  these  equal  the  facts 
reported  by  the  President  of  Amherst  College,  in  1859, 
as  to  the  injury  and  loss  of  life  at  that  institution  from 
excessive  study  before  physical  culture  was  introduced 
there.  But,  thanks  to  the  recent  report  of  the  Associa- 
tion of  Collegiate  Alumnae  upon  the  health  of  women  that 
have  been  graduated  in  American  Colleges,  we  have,  for 
the  first  time,  reliable  statistics  upon  this  subject.  Their 
very  careful  investigation  warrants  the  conclusion  that, 
"  a  college  education  does  not,  in  itself,  necessarily  entail 
a  loss  of  health,  or  curtailment  of  the  vital  forces ;  and 
the  deterioration  of  health  noticed  on  the  part  of  some 
graduates  is  due  to  constitutional  causes  natural  to  such 
graduates  themselves,  and  for  which  college  life  or  study 
should  not  be  responsible.  These  graduates  do  not  seem 
to  show,  as  the  result  of  their  college  studies,  any  marked 
differences  in  general  health  from  the  average  health 
likely  to  be  reported  by  an  equal  number  of  women  en- 
gaged in  other  kinds  of  work,  or,  in  fact,  of  women 
generally  without  regard  to  occupation  followed."*  But, 
we  are  not  content  with  this.  Students  at  college  should 
have  better  health  than  elsewhere,  j  ust  as  they  have  better 
mental  training.  This  we  propose  to  ensure  by  carefully 
limiting  the  hours  spent  in  the  class-room,  by  instruction 
in  hygiene,  by  the  supervision  of  an  accomplished  phy- 
sician, by  outdoor  sports,  by  the  best  sanitary  conditions, 
by  cheerfulness  and  joyousness,  and  finally,  by  the  use  of 
our  excellent  gymnasium. 

Electives. — In  order  to  meet  the  demand  for  elective 

*  Boston  Journal,  Supplement,  August  29,  1855. 


19 

studies  which  is  founded  in  natural  aptitudes,  and  to  pro- 
mote thoroughness  in  one  or  more  branches  of  learning, 
we  have  adopted  the  Group  system,  which  will  be„pres- 
ently  explained  to  you  by  the  honored  President  of  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  who  devised  it,  and  who  has 
proved  its  excellence  by  successful  use. 

To  the  Faculty. 

Members  of  the  Faculty,  it  is  not  by  chance  that  we 
find  ourselves  charged  with  the  duty  of  more  immediately 
conducting  the  affairs  of  this  College.  You  have  been 
chosen  with  full  confidence  in  your  ability,  your  learning, 
your  aptness  to  teach,  and  in  your  high  personal  fitness 
for  the  task,  before  us.  I  give  you  joy  of  your  position 
and  your  calling.  Much  of  our  service  will  be  delightful, 
but  it  will  call  for  unity,  for  cooperation,  for  mutual  con- 
sideration, for  a  magnanimous  regard  not  for  the  pros- 
perity of  one  department  only,  but  for  the  whole  process 
of  character-building  here,  so  that  the  finished  result  may 
be  the  best  possible.  In  the  hours  of  sunshine  and  pros- 
perity it  is  easy  to  be  cheerful,  content,  and  gracious.  It 
is  in  those  other  hours,  of  perplexity,  of  rough  contact 
with  the  barriers  which  limit  all  human  endeavor,  that 
we  shall  have  occasion  for  the  exercise  of  the  virtues  which 
make  possible  united  effort.  With  whatever  care  we  may 
test  the  preparation  of  students,  there  will  be  much  dif- 
ference among  them  as  to  their  fitness  for  the  studies  upon 
which  they  enter,  and  a  wise  adaptation  of  methods  to  the 
wants  of  each  class  will  be  most  desirable.  The  part  of 
the  teacher  is  threefold — to  enable  the  student  to  under- 
stand and  grasp  a  given  subject,  to  test  the  precision  of 
the  knowledge  he  has  gained  and  his  faithfulness  in  work, 
and  to  impart  in  one  lesson  and  in  better  form,  or  with 
fresher  illustrations,   what  the  student   could  only  find 


20 

scattered  through  many  books.  I  confidently  believe  that 
these  features  will  characterize  the  teaching  given  in  the 
College. 

To  the  Students. 

We  welcome  you  to  your  new  home  and  new  duties  in 
the  name  of  all  the  friends  of  the  College,  and  in  his 
behalf  who,  though  gone  from  our  sight,  is  still  among 
those  of  whom  Young  wrote  :  "  They  live,  they  greatly 
live."  It  is  not  we  and  you,  for  the  College  is  one  in  in- 
terests, aims,  and  mutual  regard.  In  the  long  future  of 
this  Institution  much  will  depend  upon  the  impress  it 
receives  in  these,  its  early  years.  That  those  who  follow 
you  will  look  back  and  find  from  your  example  nothing 
but  an  inspiration  towards  what  is  wise,  best,  and  noble 
in  young  Christian  womanhood,  I  feel  assured. 

The  civilization  of  our  nation  is  unequal.  It  has  great 
weakness  as  well  as  great  strength.  Science,  art,  cultivated 
intelligence,  with  all  the  outward  elegancies  of  life,  will 
not  save  our  beloved  country  from  threatened  moral  and 
social  failure  Nothing  will  do  this  but  Christian  homes 
where  reigns  the  harmony  which  is  found  in  the  good  and 
perfect  will  of  God.  That  you  may  adorn  such  homes  is 
the  highest  aim  of  Bryn  Mawr. 


21 


ADDRESS  BY  DANIEL  C.  GILMAN,  PRESIDENT 
OF  THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

The  occasion  upon  which  we  are  assembled  indicates 
the  remarkable  progress  of  modern  culture.  If  all  that 
is  involved  in  this  foundation  be  considered,  its  endow- 
ment, its  plans,  its  aspirations,  its  staff,  its  abhorrence  of 
all  that  is  false  and  low,  its  adherence  to  all  that  is  good 
and  true,  who  can  question  that  American  education 
makes  to-day  a  forward  step  ?  A  munificent  gift  is  here 
set  apart  to  provide  for  young  women  intellectual  oppor- 
tunities, as  varied,  as  inviting,  and  as  complete  as  those 
which  are  offered  to  young  men  in  the  best  American  col- 
leges. In  this  region,  at  least,  it  can  never  again  be  said 
with  respect  to  the  light  of  knowledge  that 

If  the  glory  reached  the  nnn, 
'Twas  through  an  iron  grate, 

for  this  edifice  has  many  windows  and  portals  open  to  the 
sun.  Never,  with  perhaps  a  single  exception,  has  so  large 
a  gift,  from  a  single  person,  been  consecrated  to  the  in- 
tellectual advancement  of  women.  Bryn  Mawr  College 
indeed  succeeds  to  the  experience  of  numerous  seminaries, 
but  its  scope  is  wider  than  would  have  been  thought  pos- 
sible a  very  few  years  ago  ;  it  follows  other  noble  founda- 
tions, Vassar,  Smith,  Sage,  and  Wellesley,  that  harmonious 
quartette, — but  it  is  not  inferior  in  promise  to  any  of  its 
elder  sisters ;  it  is  in  close  correspondence  with  Girton, 
Newnham,  Lady  Margaret,  and  Mary  Somerville  Halls 
in  England,  but  it  does  not  stand  as  they  do  in  juxtaposi- 
tion to  the  traditions  or  prejudices  of  antecedent  centuries ; 


22 

it  is  not  an  annex,  nor  a  department,  nor  an  affiliated 
branch  of  some  other  institution,  "  the  vine  clinging  to 
the  oak;"  it  is  not  an  exponent  of  co-education  nor  the 
supplicant  for  woman's  rights ;  it  places  no  dependence 
on  alliances  defensive  or  offensive; — but  it  stands  modestly, 
firmly,  hopefully  by  itself,  asking  no  favors,  offering  no 
excuses,  demanding  no  recognition  but  that  which  is 
earned ;  it  simply  is  and  is  to  be.  But  as  this  country 
leads  in  the  education  of  women,  so  this  College  which  we 
inaugurate  to-day  is  likely  to  be  a  leader  among  kindreol 
establishments,  the  wide  world  over.  It  is  therefore  a 
day  for  congratulations ;  and  in  the  name  of  this  con- 
course of  parents,  pupils,  and  friends,  I  congratulate  Mr. 
King,  whose  absence  on  this  day  we  ail  deplore,  and  you 
his  colleagues  in  this  trust ;  you,  Dr.  Rhoads,  and  your 
learned  associates ;  and  you,  Miss  Thomas,  the  very  honor- 
able, if  not  "  the  Very  Reverend  "  Dean  of  this  College, 
who,  in  the  face  of  many  difficulties,  have  pursued  long 
courses  of  study,  with  great  success,  seeking  in  other  lands 
that  which  you  could  not  obtain  at  home,  and  are  now 
surrounded  by  a  staff  of  accomplished  teachers,  men  and 
women,  able  and  eager  to  advance  the  work  to  which  your 
life  is  consecrated.  It  is  also  the  time  for  the  calm  and 
grateful  remembrance  of  that  noble  man  with  benignant 
face,  generous  hand,  gentle  nature,  and  enlightened  mind, 
too  soon  called  hence,  who  formed  the  plan,  who  chose 
this  site,  marked  out  its  uses,  projected  these  walls,  named 
these  trustees,  and  gave  the  funds  which  have  made  the 
Bryn  Mawr  College  a  reality.  He  gave  everything  which 
he  had  except  his  name.  That  alone,  with  true  modesty 
he  withheld.  Let  us  hope  that  like  the  "nameless  column 
with  a  buried  base,'7  still  standing  in  the  Roman  forum, 
when  palaces  and  temples  have  fallen  to  decay, — so  this 
foundation  will  endure  from  age  to  age. 

This  is  an  hour  not  only  for  congratulations  and  for 


23 

thanks,  but  also  for  serious  reflections,  with  which  come 
anxieties  and  the  sense  of  grave  responsibilities.  Dean 
Stanley,  in  a  brief  address  which  he  made  in  Baltimore 
not  long  before  he  died,  reminded  his  hearers  that  this 
country  is  passing  through  an  epoch  of  foundations  simi- 
lar to  that  in  which  may  be  discovered  the  origins  of 
Oxford,  when  a  generous  woman,  Devorguila,  gave  great 
gifts  for  the  education  of  young  men, — the  benefits  of 
which  Stanley  himself  had  shared.  It  seems  sometimes 
as  if  each  new  institution  suggested  another,  and  as  if  each 
new  offspring  inherited  the  antecedents  of  its  immediate 
progenitors.  Hence  if  is  most  important  at  the  beginning 
of  an  institution  to  recur  to  the  general  principles  which 
should  guide  those  who  look  after  its  material  concerns 
and  those  who  direct  its  intellectual  progress.  Both  Boards 
will  soon  find  out  how  readily  methods  become  usages ; 
usages,  precedents ;  precedents,  obligations ;  obligations, 
laws ;  laws,  fetters ;  each  good  in  its  place, — fetters  best 
of  all  in  some  of  the  emergencies  of  life,  when  the  storm 
beats  high  and  the  cyclone  is  tearing  the  roof  or  driving 
the  bark ;  or  to  change  the  figure,  when  the  madman 
brandishes  his  knife  or  the  mob  cries  for  plunder, — but 
fetters  wTorst  of  all  when  they  retard  the  motions  of  a 
healthy  athlete,  a  person,  a  college  or  a  state,  the  embodi- 
ment of  a  living  and  fruitful  idea.  Indeed  the  dangers 
of  foundations  are  so  great  that  some  philosophers  have 
placed  themselves  in  direct  antagonism  to  endowments. 
There  is  a  famous  article  by  Turgot,  in  the  French  En- 
cyclopSdie,  which  is  designed,  as  the  writer  tells  us,  to 
show  the  inconveniences  of  foundations  in  the  hope  of  pre- 
venting new  endowments  and  of  destroying  respect  for  the 
old.  A  founder,  he  says  in  effect,  is  a  man  who  would 
like  to  make  his  own  will  eternal — qui  veut  etemiser  Veffet 
de  ses  volontes.  But  I  am  sure  that  this  remark  is  made 
without  adequate  discrimination ;  and  a  little  reflection 


24 

will  enable  us  to  see  the  truth  and  the  falsity  of  this 
writer's  position. 

Two  modes  of  procedure  are  open  to  founders.  They 
may  fasten  upon  the  future  ideas  which  seem  good  in  the 
present,  by  decreeing  conditions,  regulations,  tenets  and 
creeds,  of  a  very  minute  character,  and  they  may  make  it 
very  difficult  for  their  representatives,  under  circumstances 
wholly  changed,  to  carry  out  the  original  purpose ;  or  they 
may  express  a  desire  to  promote  the  good  of  their  fellow 
men,  indicating  the  general  purpose  and  providing  the 
requisite  funds,  leaving  it  to  those  who  come  afterwards  to 
determine  from  time  to  time  such  modes  of  operation  and 
regulation  as  shall  then  seem  best.  These  opposite  methods 
may  be  characterized  by  two  short  words — Building  and 
Planting. 

Founders  who  build,  mould  the  plastic  clay  into  brick, 
bind  it  by  cement  which  grows  harder  than  stone,  and 
thus  erect  structures  which  may  be  very  enduring,  but  are 
apt  to  be  ill-adapted  to  the  wants  of  future  generations  ; 
a  Birs  Nimroud,  a  pyramid,  a  colosseum,  a  cathedral  of 
Cologne  may  be  enduring  and  yet  not  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  modern  society.  Founders  who  plant,  place  their  seeds 
in  the  ground,  dig,  enrich,  train,  prune,  and  reap  the 
fruits  as  soon  as  they  can ;  but  they  take  care  that  the 
best  kernels  of  corn,  the  best  tubers,  the  best  slips  shall  be 
saved,  and  used  for  the  bringing  forth  of  new  products  in 
subsequent  seasons.  I  can  readily  believe  that  the  Society 
of  Friends  inclines  to  the  idea  of  planting  rather  than  to 
the  idea  of  building  institutions ;  they  proceed  with  such 
wise  regard  to  the  principles  of  growth,  that  they  should 
keep  on  planting  until  the  country  is  supplied  with  hos- 
pitals and  colleges. 

But,  even  in  selecting  the  seed  which  is  to  be  planted, 
there  are  dangers  to  be  guarded  against.  In  beginning  a 
college,  it  will   not  do  to  follow  implicitly  any  scheme 


25 

which  has  been  projected — not  that  which  Diderot  drew 
up  for  the  Empress  of  Russia,  nor  the  recommendations 
which  were  made  by  Wilhelm  von  Humboldt  in  Berlin, 
nor  the  letters  of 'Cardinal  Newman  with  reference  to  Irish 
education,  nor  the  elaborate  plans  drawn  up  by  Francis 
Lieber  for  the  government  of  Girard  College.  From  all 
these  sources,  and  from  many  like  them,  good  hints  can 
be  derived,  but,  in  the  garden  that  is  here  to  be  planted, 
the  seeds  must  be  carefully  chosen,  not  taken  in  aggregate 
masses.  There  is  danger  in  the  plausible  and  attractive 
idea  that  every  new  institution  should  have  all  the  pos- 
sessions of  those  thaf  are  older,  and,  of  course,  that 
colleges  for  young  women  should  have  all  that  is  found  in 
colleges  for  young  men ;  but  let  me  beg  the  authorities 
at  Bryn  Mawr  to  remember  that  many  of  our  tradi- 
tional ideas  of  college  life  were  developed  in  the  times 
of  ignorance,  superstition  and  poverty  ;  they  can  be  traced 
directly  to  monastic  and  conventual  life  ;  they  live  by  the 
force  of  institutional  heredity ;  wherefore,  every  new  col- 
lege should  eliminate  what  is  useless,  and  save  only  what 
is  found  to  be  of  value  now. 

This  brings  me,  respected  friends,  to  the  particular 
theme  which  I  have  been  requested  to  present  to  you, 
the  reconciliation  of  liberty  and  authority,  of  freedom 
and  law,  of  eclectic  courses  and  a  prescribed  curriculum. 
The  fundamental  question,  involved  in  these  phrases,  takes 
as  many  forms  as  there  are  colleges.  It  has  been  of  late 
under  wide  discussion,  not  because  the  world  has  just  thought 
of  it,  but  because  there  has  been  such  an  increase  of  wealth, 
such  an  advancement  of  science,  that  there  are  new  sup- 
plies and  new  demands,  new  possibilities  and  new  expec- 
tations. So  it  comes  to  pass  that,  when  a  progressive 
speech  is  made  at  Cambridge,  all  the  conservative  elements 
in  education  are  on  the  alert  to  detect  the  errors  in  the 
orator's  logic  and  to  oppose  his  conclusions  ;  so  it  happens 

4 


26 

that,  when  Mr.  Palmer  invites  President  Eliot  and  Dr. 
McCosh  to  a  combat  of  arms  before  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury Club,  each  feels  that  he  has  a  foeman  worthy  of  his 
steel,  and  all  the  city  papers  teem  with  reports,  as  they  do 
when  the  Puritan  is  racing  with  the  Genesta. 

This  dispute  is  often  introduced  by  the  question,  whether 
Greek  is  essential  to  a  Baccalaureate  degree  ?  I  confess, 
that,  of  all  the  forms  of  beginning  the  debate,  this  seems 
to  me  the  most  unsatisfactory.  We  dwell  in  a  land,  where 
there  are  twenty  forms  of  giving  the  Baccalaureate  degree ; 
where  college  charters  can  be  had  for  the  asking ;  where 
colleges  bestow  degrees  without  university  superintendence 
and  examination  ;  where  each  institution  is  a  law  to  itself, 
so  that  the  diploma  of  a  Bachelor,  like  a  note  of  hand,  is 
of  no  sort  of  value  until  you  know  when,  where  and  how 
it  was  uttered.  Why,  then,  ask  if  Greek  is  essential  to  a 
Baccalaureate  degree  ?  Why  not  ask  what  constitutes  a 
liberal  education  ?  whether  all  minds  require  the  same 
training?  whether  high  intellectual  forces  can  be  developed 
by  very  different  agencies?  whether  colleges,  which  are 
well  endowed,  should  provide  only  one  sort  of  training,  or 
should  offer  many  ?  whether  good  work  is  not  deserving 
of  recognition  in  all  branches  of  study  ?  whether  it  is  not 
desirable  that  all  who  seek  to  fit  themselves  for  an  intel- 
lectual life,  should  do  so  under  the  most  liberalizing  cir- 
cumstances ?  These  forms  of  discussion  seem,  to  me,  much 
more  profitable. 

We  need  not  go  far  back  in  the  history  of  education,  to 
discover  that,  when  Greek  came  in  as  a  subject  for  college 
study,  it  met  with  direct  opposition  ;  when  modern  science 
was  introduced,  it  came  as  an  intruder ;  so  that  it  is  not 
strange  that  modern  languages  and  literature  should  now 
be  the  studies  most  demanded,  and,  at  the  same  time,  those 
whose  encroachments  are  most  jealously  resisted.  I  am 
always  reminded  of  the  quandary  of  an  irresistible  force 


27 

impelled  upon  an  impenetrable  surface.  No  one  can  tell 
what  will  happen. 

The  authorities  of  Bryn  Mawr  have  employed  in  their 
announcements  a  term  which  seems  to  me  uncommonly 
felicitous.  You  have  heard  it  already,  the  Group  System. 
It  is  a  timely  product  of  educational  nomenclature,  likely, 
I  think,  to  lead  a  long  and  useful  life.  But  good  society 
looks  a  little  askance  upon  it ;  its  pedigree,  its  belongings, 
its  properties,  are  not  quite  understood,  and  I  am  sure  that 
Dr.  Rhoads  and  the  Dean,  and  the  other  officers  will 
often  be  called  upon  to  say  what  is  meant  by  this  new 
phrase.  Only  a  few  days  ago,  while  considering,  on  the 
Island  of  Mt.  Desert,  what  I  should  say  at  this  time,  I 
was  asked  by  a  writer,  well-known  for  what  he  has 
done  to  promote  the  education  of  women,  if  I  could  tell 
him  what  the  Bryn  Mawr  people  meant  by  the  Group 
system  of  studies ;  "  I  rather  think  I  can,"  was  my 
answer.  So  now,  to  make  sure,  let  me  tell  you  what  I  sup- 
pose to  be  the  underlying  idea. 

Avoiding  the  doctrine  that  there  is  but  one  curriculum 
for  a  college  education,  and  the  doctrine  that  there  should 
be  no  curriculum  whatever — the  Group  system  presents  the 
idea  of  several  courses  or  groups  of  studies,  each  of  which 
has  distinctive  characteristics,  and  one  of  which  must  be 
taken  as  a  binding  choice  by  every  candidate  for  acade- 
mic honors.  The  student  may  elect  which  group  he  pre- 
fers, but  the  constituents  of  that  group  have  been  prede- 
termined by  the  authorities,  and  are  not  to  be  fitfully 
modified.  Everybody  will  admit  that  the  principles  well 
formulated  a  few  years  ago  by  one  of  the  educational  com- 
missions of  the  British  Government  are  adapted  to  modern 
times ;  that  a  liberal  education  in  our  day  calls  for  in- 
struction in  language  and  literature,  in  mathematics  and 
the  natural  sciences,  in  history  and  philosophy,  and  that 


28 

the  proportions  of  these  elements  may  be  endlessly  modi- 
fied. 

Every  house  must  have  floors,  walls,  and  roof;  but  the 
relations  of  size  may  be  infinitely  varied,  and  should  be 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  occupants.  So  far  as  mental 
discipline  or  intellectual  training  is  concerned,  it  may  be 
secured  by  any  one  of  fifty  combinations  which  can  be 
suggested.  How  many  men  of  judgment,  wisdom,  and 
even  learning  we  can  name  who  never  received  a  Bacca- 
laureate degree;  discoverers,  statesmen,  warriors,  poets. 
This  does  not  indicate  that  their  mental  training  had  been 
neglected,  but  that  it  was  obtained  in  some  unconventional 
way,  by  some  individual  process,  by  some  adaptation  to 
personal  surroundings.  Think  of  Shakespeare,  and  Fara- 
day, or  of  our  countrymen,  Franklin,  Lincoln,  Whittier  ; 
will  anyone  dare  to  say  that  they  would  have  been  better 
for  following  a  prescribed  curriculum  ?  Will  any  one 
say  they  were  not  educated  ?  Will  any  one  say  how  un- 
fortunate that  they  did  not  receive  a  Baccalaureate 
diploma,  for  which  a  knowledge  of  Greek  was  requisite  ? 

Why,  then,  do  you,  and  I,  and  so  many  more,  cling  to 
the  classical  course  so  tightly  ?  Why  do  we  wish  to  see  it 
perpetuated  ?  Because  among  the  most  civilized  nations  of 
Christendom,  ever  since  the  revival  of  learning,  a  classical 
training  has  been  found  the  most  convenient,  successful, 
and  fruitful  discipline  which  can  be  offered  in  schools  and 
colleges  to  average  minds ;  because  it  has  the  prestige  of 
experience,  of  ascertained  methods,  of  positive  results ; 
because  its  influence  is  so  powerful  in  developing  talent,  in 
awakening  a  love  of  letters,  and  in  fitting  men  to  reason 
upon  the  ever  recurring  questions  of  conduct  and  charac- 
ter :  because  the  Humanities  are  the  guides  to  Humanity. 
But  there  are  many  lives  so  predetermined  by  the  influ- 
ences of  hereditary  character,  the  necessities  of  actual  life, 
the  infelicities  of  early  education,  or  the  noble  and  irre- 


29 

sistible  impulses  of  independent  natures,  that  they  will  not 
be  governed  by  an  enforced  schedule.  It  is  fortunate  for 
society  that  this  is  so ;  fortunate  that  individuality  will 
assert  itself  against  conventionality  and  prescription. 
Shall  such  minds  get  all  their  training  away  from  the 
schools  ?  Because  they  turn  away  from  the  classics,  shall 
they  not  learn  the  sciences  ;  because  they  have  not  the 
power  to  soar  with  the  eaglets  in  the  mathematical  firma- 
ment, may  they  not  be  trained  to  turn  their  microscopic 
vision  upon  the  phenomena  of  life  and  explore  the  mys- 
terious beds  of  the  ocean?  Because  they  do  not  love 
antiquity,  shall  they  hot  be  allowed  to  enter  upon  the 
problems  of  modern  political  science  ?  If  the  probabili- 
ties are  that  they  will  need  the  accurate  knowledge  of 
French  and  German,  shall  they  be  forced  to  postpone  the 
acquisition  of  these  tongues  until  their  college  course  is 
ended? 

Now  the  Group  system,  as  it  is  called  in  Bryn  Mawr, 
enables  the  scholar  who  desires  the  original,  old  fashioned, 
highly  recommended  college  course  of  studies,  to  follow 
it  in  company  of  those  who,  like  himself,  believe  in  it  and 
love  it.  But  on  the  other  hand,  another  group  of  studies 
based  upon  science,  or  upon  history,  or  upon  modern 
languages  and  literature  may  be  chosen  by  the  student 
who  does  not  prefer  the  old  curriculum.  Thus  it  is  obvi- 
ous that  the  advantages  of  an  elective  course  are  secured 
by  giving  to  every  scholar  his  choice  among  several  care- 
fully considered  plans  of  study  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the 
advantages  of  enforced  or  prescribed  courses  are  secured 
by  appointing  beforehand  the  order,  the  sequence,  the 
methods  to  be  followed  in  each  of  the  proposed  groups. 
It  is  my  firm  belief  that  when  the  advantages  of  this 
mode  of  proceeding  are  fully  understood,  they  will  be 
employed  in  all  large  colleges.  The  only  obstacle  to 
their  introduction  is  their  costliness.     It  requires  a  great 


30 

many  teachers  to  provide  for  all  the  wants  of  all  the  at- 
tendants upon  these  groups.  If  any  one  doubts  this,  let 
him  endeavor  to  construct  a  time-table  in  which  the 
appointments  shall  not  clash.  But  like  other  costly  pos- 
sessions it  is  of  value  when  it  is  secured.  Bryn  Mawr 
College  is  most  fortunate,  as  it  seems  to  me,  in  beginning 
with  a  recognition  of  this  principle.  It  may  claim,  I 
think,  the  authorship  of  the  term,  Group  system.  The 
idea  is  not  new;  it  has  been  tested  elsewhere  with  success; 
but  the  happy  thought  which  suggested  the  name  is  clue, 
I  think,  to  some  one  now  within  reach  of  my  voice. 

So  far  as  a  college  is  concerned,  the  question  of  the  con- 
flict of  studies  seems  to  me  to  be  solved  by  this  arrange- 
ment of  groups  for  the  wants  of  different  scholars  ;  but,  for 
the  individual,  the  difficulty  still  remains  what  group  shall 
be  chosen,  what  plan  of  study  is  best  adapted  to  a  given 
mind  ?  This  question  can  only  be  determined  by  personal 
diagnosis. 

It  is  curious  to  look  back,  and  see  how  perpetually  some 
educational  problems  recur  in  the  progress  of  society.  The 
student  of  Aristotle  knows  very  well  that  in  his  day  this 
perplexing  question  of  the  adjustment  of  liberal  and  prac- 
tical studies  was  as  important  as  it  is  in  the  nineteenth 
century.  Then  as  now  the  relative  importance  of  general 
culture  and  professional  skill  was  a  vital  problem.  Our 
life,  he  tells  us  in  his  Politics,  is  divided  into  business  and 
leisure.  Proceeding  from  this  principle,  he  goes  on  to  say, 
in  words  whose  lofty  sentiment  has  been  thus  freely  trans- 
lated by  a  living  scholar ;  *  "  the  endeavor  of  nature  her- 
self is  that  men  may  be  able  not  only  to  engage  in  business 
rightly  but  also  to  spend  their  leisure  nobly."  What  ad- 
mirable phrases  ;  what  better  note  for  Bryn  Mawr  College 
and  its  Group  system  of  studies,  than  these  words  of  the 

*  J.  E.  C.  Welldon. 


3i 

ancient  philosopher,  "  the  right  conduct  of  business  and 
the  noble  employment  of  leisure." 

Euskin  has  made  us  familiar  with  the  lamps  of  Archi- 
tecture. May  we  not  say  that  there  are  lamps  for  the 
service  of  Learning  as  well  as  for  the  house  of  Worship  ; 
lamps  for  the  college,  as  well  as  lamps  for  the  Church  ? 
I  sometimes  think  upon  them  in  this  way. 

The  first  I  would  call  the  Lamp  of  Curiosity, — earliest 
of  all  to  be  lighted, — the  love  of  seeking,  questioning, 
hunting,  finding,  which  is  shown  in  the  sports  of  the 
nursery  and  the  games  of  the  parlor.  The  single  teacher 
who  values  this  lamp  and  teaches  his  pupils  to  use  it  always, 
does  more  for  his  scholars  than  a  college  or  university 
which  fills  the  mind  with  an  undigested  cyclopaedia  of 
facts. 

The  second  lamp  is  Memory.  The  oil  which  feeds  it 
may  give  out  smoke  and  smell,  or  it  may  burn  with  a  light 
as  pure  and  clear  as  if  it  were  electric.  As  curiosity  burns 
dimly,  memory  burns  brightly.  It  should  therefore  be 
most  carefully  watched  that  no  bad  material  and  no  de- 
fective wicks  may  affect  its  brightness. 

The  next  is  Comparison.  By  the  light  of  this  lamp  we 
set  in  order  what  we  have  gathered  by  curiosity  and  stored 
by  memory.  We  arrange  our  knowledge  in  orders  and 
species,  in  tables  and  schedules,  in  principles  and  ex- 
amples. 

The  fourth  lamp  is  Judgment,  which  enables  us  to 
weigh  and  measure  that  which  has  been  sought,  garnered, 
and  set  in  order.  Few  children  can  employ  this  light ; 
they  who  employ  it  are  the  wise.  "  The  single  virtue  of 
practical  wisdom  implies  the  presence  of  all  the  moral 
virtues," — so  Aristotle  tells  us. 

The  lamp  of  Utility  is  the  fifth  of  these  luminaries. 
By  its  light  we  turn  our  acquisitions  and  our  opinions, 
our  facts  and  our  conclusions,  to  the  good  of  our  fellow- 


32 

men.  As  curiosity  brings  us  to  the  temple  of  knowledge, 
usefulness  lights  us  forth, — bidding  us  go  abroad  and  apply 
to  the  welfare  of  others  the  lessons  we  have  acquired. 

Reverence  hangs  next  in  this  series  of  lamps, — reverence 
for  the  moral  government  into  which  human  nature  is 
born, — reverence  for  all  that  is  revealed  of  the  Divine  and 
Eternal, — reverence  for  the  mysteries  which  eye  has  not 
pierced, — reverence  for  the  certainties  wThich  are  soon  to 
be  so  clear. 

The  college,  be  it  old  or  new,  great  or  small,  for  men  or 
for  women,  which  leads  its  pupils  to  seek  out,  to  hold  fast, 
to  set  in  order,  to  weigh  well,  and  with  a  reverent  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  divine  mysteries,  to  turn  to  good  uses  the 
lessons  of  nature,  of  history,  of  art,  of  poetry,  of  philosophy 
and  of  Christianity,  will  be  sure  to  prepare  its  disciples 
for  "  the  right  conduct  of  business  and  the  noble  employ- 
ment of  leisure.' ' 


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